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Fall seems to be passing me by.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything. I keep telling myself that I need to sit down and write, and I keep putting it off. I just can’t seem to get motivated to write, mostly because I’m struggling to remain positive right now.

My allergies have been very hard on me this Fall. Even with all of my medications, watching my diet, and taking the usual precautions, I’m feeling their effects more than usual. So much so, that I actually scheduled a doctors appointment, and I keep berating myself for that because it seems like something a hypochondriac would do. But the fact of the matter is that my allergies have kept me from doing my usual Fall stuff, so I think that warrants a reassessment.

I’ve spent less time outside this Fall than I have in previous years. And that includes missing a few of The Goat’s mountain uni/bike races. I always enjoyed going to these, the other racers and families are like our extended family. It’s also fun to cheer the riders on while admiring the gorgeous colors that are only this vivid for a few weeks each year.

Closer to home, my yard’s been so neglected that I’m starting to wonder why I bother with a garden. Sure I love to be out in it, and up until recently, I have always enjoyed yard work. However, between my hip, bone/joint aches and pains and my allergies, an hour or so in the garden may lift my spirit, but it batters and beats my physical well being. Knowing that you need to balance both the physical and the mental to maintain a healthy well being, it’s getting to be a difficult internal struggle for me.

With tears in my eyes I’ve started to wonder what part of the yard to consolidate, or how I can make it easier on me to maintain. Sure, low maintenance is always the goal, but for me, it’s becoming a necessity, and that bothers me. Mostly because our yard is pretty low maintenance already, so does that mean I need to give up other parts of gardening, like the veggies or herb garden?

Because quite frankly, it’s the strawberries that need mulched, the garlic that needs planted, the vegetable beds that need tended to to prepare for Spring crops, the pots that grew carrots and radishes that need emptied and cleaned, the squash vines that need composted, the hops that need cut down, and an ornamental or two that needs brought in.And then there are the other Fall chores, leaves to be raked and composted or used as mulch, weeds to pull and a few plants that need cut back, due to them harboring bad bugs and plant illnesses during the Winter. And yes, I still have some Swiss chard, peas, and spinach growing out there somewhere.

I’ll try and bring a few plants in this weekend, might get some garlic planted too, we’ll see. But with the extra cold winter predicted, I better find a way to get out there and get some things put to bed properly. I don’t want to loose my strawberries because I didn’t get them mulched in time. But something tells me I’m running out of time this year, after all, November is just days away.

As it is, I already wear a bandanna or scarf over my nose and mouth to help with the allergens like pollen and mold. Since I tend to get cold easily, at this time of the year, I’m fairly bundled up too. So if you see me out in the yard in a Hazmat suit, looking like the Stay-puff marshmallow man, please don’t think I’ve gone completely mad.